Anti-DUI program includes reality check

SAN ANDREAS - Drunken drivers who injure people get sent to prison all the time. Usually, the only ones in court to witness the event are attorneys, a few relatives and, sometimes, victims.

Dana M. Nichols

SAN ANDREAS - Drunken drivers who injure people get sent to prison all the time. Usually, the only ones in court to witness the event are attorneys, a few relatives and, sometimes, victims.

When Lucky Rance Marcum was sentenced to 16 months in prison Friday in Calaveras Superior Court, however, 33 stone-faced students from Calaveras High School were present.

Marcum, 26, made the most of it. He looked into their eyes and slowly, carefully, read a detailed statement on the impact of alcohol and methamphetamine addiction on his life, and his remorse over the injuries he caused in a traffic accident about 2 a.m. Oct. 21 where Highways 4 and 49 cross in Angels Camp.

"Do you want to walk down the same path I have?" Marcum asked. "I sure hope not."

The students were there thanks to Reduce Impaired Driving, a program the Calaveras County District Attorney's Office launched several months ago with help from a $160,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

The grant pays to have Deputy District Attorney Mauro Quintero focus on driving under the influence cases, and for Quintero to do education aimed at reducing the number of people who get behind the wheel while impaired by alcohol or drugs.

"Recently there have been several studies that said our county, Calaveras County, was one of the more dangerous in the state," Quintero told the students during a presentation earlier in the morning.

Dangerous, that is, in terms of the number of injury accidents per mile driven. Part of that danger, he told the students, is from intoxicated drivers.

To prove the point, he invited a number of the students to try simple tasks like walking, tossing a ball, or taking an officer-administered sobriety test while wearing goggles that mimic the effect of intoxication.

"It was difficult. It really does impair," Brandon McCleese, 18, a senior at Calaveras High, said after attempting a game of catch while wearing the goggles.

McCleese and other students acknowledged that they are aware that many of their peers do drive while intoxicated. But they were hopeful that education efforts such as the one Friday will help.

"Even if it just helps a couple people, it would be worth it," said Jacob Schnepple, 17, a junior at Calaveras High.

The 33 students were chosen to participate because they are in the criminal justice class at Calaveras High. Many hope for careers in law enforcement or the military.

Schnepple, for example, hopes to join the U.S. armed services and become a military police officer.

Those presenting the program repeatedly urged the students to alert their peers to the high costs in life, liberty and property that driving while impaired can impose.

"It's OK to tell your friends they can't drive. It's OK to take their keys," said Cathe Howell, the Reduce Impaired Driving program assistant.

Marcum had the same message. The accident he caused injured a woman, her 7-year-old son and the woman's boyfriend. Marcum lost his job and his house and will now serve a prison term. He also owes more than $20,000 in restitution and fines.

"I have to live each and every day knowing I could have killed someone that night," Marcum said.